The Adepts
"I will rise again." The Nazoreans are elite members of the Order of Creators. Believers in Jesus of Nazareth, from whom they take their name, they are Creators reborn as Nazoreans only after their deaths. A Xtrian member of the Creator Order simply dies... and returns later as an immortal Nazorean. AKA: The Risen, the Creators, Living Saints. Patriarch: Jesus of Nazareth. Recruitment: Christians / Order of Creators. Signature Powers: The Powers of Creation. Nazorean Degrees Facts: -Not every Xtrian Creator who dies becomes a Nazorean. It simply happens when it happens, whenever God wills it to happen. -Nazoreans still struggle with over-heating like the rest of the Creators, but they do not suffer as much from Discordance as most Creators do. Nazoreans have a more definitive idea of God's plan through the story of Christ. -Nazoreans are Revenants and Immortals. They were once dead and have returned from the afterlife, and they are now immortal. While they can be killed again through decapitation or piercing the heart, Nazoreans cannot die from old age. -Are strongest at dawn = Nazoreans experience an adrenaline high at dawn, granting them a half-hour of increased strength and stamina. This will occur even if they are inside or underground. -Like the Indwelt, Nazoreans hold a Shekinah, a physical manifestation of God Himself, within their very bodies. However, their Shekinahs are stable and so they do not suffer the explosive powers that Indwelt learn to harness as a weapon. -Can only be killed by piercing the heart = Jesus of Nazareth was stabbed through the heart with a spear. Subsequently, any wound that doesn't pierce a Nazorean's heart or sever his head will only wound him or put him in a semi-permanent coma (but he will eventually recover from even this). To kill a Nazorean the heart must be pierced or somehow cut open, even a nick will do, but the blow must sever the walls of the heart which act as the tabernacle for the Shekinah. Without the Shekinah, the Nazorean's soul is forced back to heaven - and their body collapses to the ground, a corpse once again. -Although Nazoreans cannot die except by decapitation or piercing the heart, and although they can heal extraordinarily fast if they expend Kenosis to do so, they still suffer normal drawbacks of human physiology upon damage. If they lose enough blood, they can fall unconscious. If they are hit hard enough on the head, they can enter shock or suffer amnesia, etc. -Immunity to Intense Light = Bright lights do not hurt the eyes of Nazoreans, even if a mortal's retinas would be burned out by the same intensity of light. This mystical feature of the Creator Tribe is believed to help them in their Creating processes - powerful energy is often released during the act of creating something from nothing, so the ability to see what one is doing is paramount. -Night Blindness = Conversely, while Nazoreans are children of the light and can see in it, they have reduced vision in very dim lighting or near darkness. They aren't totally blind but definitely have a hard time making out shapes or movements in the dark. -Wedlock = Nazoreans have full reproductive capabilities, although offspring, if there are any, are born normal mortal babes. Most Nazoreans choose not to have children because of the 'awkwardness' of raising a child who you will outlive by several lifetimes. Also, while Nazoreans still have full reproductive powers, they lack the animated sex drives of mortals. Their physiology is different and they feel emotion and intimacy differently now. -Ambiogenesis = Neophyte Nazoreans have a reduced need to breath, eat, sleep, or drink. They can go days or weeks without sleep. And Elder Nazoreans may not need any at all. A Nazorean houses a Shekinah, a fiery manifestation of God's Spirit within his own body, with the heart acting as the Tabernacle or exact place of indwelling. That Shekinah is what powers him, keeps his body ageless, and heals him. Thus, he has no need for food, drink, sleep, or even air to breath - everything is supernaturally supplied by The Shekinah. -Run on Kenosis, a measure of their connection to Christ. A Nazorean's connection to his or her's own Shekinah is called Kenosis. This refers to a Nazorean's spiritual state of affairs, since that is how he is connected to God. -Nazoreans are renowned for their endurance and ability to withstand damage that would kill most others. Nazorean bodies heal fast and thus can take more damage then most, their stamina is high even by Supernatural standards. -Are allergic to Olive Wood (causes sever blistering, inflammation with light contact; heavy contact causes bleeding and tissue damage). This strange weakness of the Nazoreans causes them to suffer irritating pain from the prolonged touch of olive wood. Thus, they avoid it. -Raised body temperature: Nazoreans can be made out in a crowd of people with thermal cameras, since The Shekinah causes their bodies to give off a greater amount of heat. -The Will of The Creator = In times of dire need or stress, Nazoreans have often found themselves tapped by an unbelievable strong will, an infinite feeling which they believe can never break. This Will of The Creator often wells up from within them and overpowers attempts to possess or mind control them. -Power to Create: The signature feature of the Nazoreans is their power to Create, either to mold what is already existing or bring forth something from nothing. They believe this act is not them acting alone, but an act of co-creating with God. The only weakness they have in this capacity is their attendance to overheat, as a Nazorean creates he builds up heat within himself. Go too far and his body will begin to suffer damage. Older Nazoreans are more refined and do not suffer this problem, but they all must keep it in mind. -Like the Creators in general, the one thing a Nazorean cannot create is another Nazorean. God reserves that right for Himself. Thus, despite all their power, the Nazoreans are completely dependent on God for their numbers. -A common form of decision making among Nazoreans is to cast lots. This is more then simply pulling straws, prayers are said and petitions made to God for His' guidance in the casting of lots. The idea is that the casting itself is a method for seeing which decision God favors. -Nazoreans are so attuned to the energies of creation that their very bodies are affected even in the minute details of their biology. Nazoreans have to get their hair cut more often because it grows so quickly, and if you cut their nails, the cuttings will continue to grow for up to three days even after being cut off from their body. -Because they are immortal and Christian, Nazoreans will have easier access to Church Lore and Secrets of the Order (Creator Order). -The Nazoreans are a huge Tribe with many branches going off in all sorts of directions. There are Nazorean fundamentalists, artsy types, liberal hippies, military professionals, scientists, etc. Nazoreans come in all shapes and sizes and professions. -The Nazoreans have only formally been around in the last two thousand years. Yet that time period has seen the rise of modern civilization. Coincidence? -God-Haunted = The world of a Nazorean is a magical place where miracles and prophecies are common and prayers lead to supernatural events. -Like all Creators, Nazoreans thirst for knowledge. Only through knowledge can they learn new Names and understand the concepts behind them. -Technically, all Nazoreans are de facto Monodominants. Remember that they believe the Patriarch of their Tribe wasn't just a man of God... He was God according to them. Olive Wood Allergy: Nazoreans are allergic to Olive Wood. It causes sever blistering, bleeding, prolonged exposure can cause huge whip-like wounds to appear in their flesh. It is excruciating for Nazoreans to endure all this. It is important to note that the Nazorean's skin must come in contact with the wood. Any barrier, no matter how flimsy, will halt the allergy causing confrontation. When a Nazorean does encounter Olive Wood, black veins appear and his skin immediately swells, the nerve endings flare which causes amazing pain, and prolonged exposure causes "whip-like" scars to form on the back and other posterior areas of the body. The reason for this malady is ominous... Attributes: "The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many." Attributes are super-human levels of skill the immortal Nazoreans are able to attain over time. They can do this by want of their long life span. Attributes are not supernatural powers: they are raw skill. Young Nazoreans generally don't have these, but you see them developed among those with whole centuries under their belt. -Perfect sense of time and distance: the Nazorean can just look and know the distance of a space, also he has a perfect sense of the passage of time. -Power of Foresight: the Nazorean's mind can calculate his surroundings so superbly, he can practically know the future for up to five minutes. This 'power' does not predict perfectly, it is simply an act of almost computer like calculating on the brains part, seeing in its imagination how things will play out for the next few minutes. -Know the Group Mind: Nazorean has a knack for judging the social situation upon entering it: whose in charge, the rivalries, enmities, alliances, tensions, etc. -Acute Memory: Character has perfect recall of facts, such as names, people, etc. He can recall the exact image of things he saw and take them apart, effectively studying them in his mind as if examining a photograph with his hands. A Nazorean with this level of skill would be the everliving equivalent of 3D image processor. -Kinesthetics: Character has perfect sense of his body, he can move and contort himself in ways no mortal could ever think too. -Mathamatical Memory: Nazorean can recall numbers even from many years ago, license plate numbers, codes, lock numbers, even passing numbers such as serial numbers on trucks and grates, etc. With this skill worked out to its fullest, he can even pull apart pages of computer binary code and decipher it, all with but a passing inspection. -Heightened Perception: Nazorean has phenomenal eyesight, he can notice small details others easily miss. He can pick out the fake rock with the key in it in the middle of a garden. He can pick out the single, exposed footprint while tracking in the middle of the Everglades, et cetera. -Perfect Pitch: Character's sense of noise and hearing is immaculate, he can detect even the slightest changes in pitch, sound or volume. While he is on the phone, he can tell what else is going on over the line just by the minor background noises. -Foretell Weather: Can sense minor changes in weather patterns that preclude larger changes, making it possible to judge the potential for storms, rain, clear skies, etc. For instance, he can feel a lessening of air pressure on his skin, so slight it would be imperceptible to others, thus informing him the pressure is dropping and a storm is forming. -Increased Hearing & Smell = Because of their bad vision in dim light, the Nazorean's other senses have heightened. He can detect faint smells and sounds much more easily. This is especially true with smell: he can detect what someone recently ate on the smell of their breath, the chemicals and objects in a room by the smell when he walks in, etc. The Great Families: Around the world there are families descended from the family of Jesus Christ. Those born into these bloodlines often exhibit minor supernatural abilities, especially a talent for prophecy. These are the Great Families, and they have woven themselves into the royal bloodlines, banking families and other important kinship across the world. Most of the branches of the Great Families are wealthy, landed and hold hereditary titles. The Nazoreans honor these families because of their ancestry. When in danger, they will move to help them. Conversely, Nazoreans can often expect help from a Great Family they have befriended. Athanasius and the Early Church: The early Xtrian Church faced several problems early on, plague, persecution, disbelief, heresy. But one of the greatest crises the first church faced was the heresy of Arianism which threatened to destroy the church's core nature, her belief in Christ. Arianism became so problematic that the early church fathers held an entire council at Nicaea to debate the issue once and for all. The pro-Christian faction was spear-headed by a church father who had been chased across the Roman Empire in the name of Christian faith. His name was Athanasius, and much of the saving of Biblical faith is due in no small part to his efforts. What intrigues Adepts so much about this man is his mysterious origins and name. In Greek, Athanasius simply means "the Immortal?" Playing A Nazorean: It's important to see Nazoreans as more than just Creators who happen to be Christian. Nazoreans have been fundamentally changed thanks to their link with Jesus of Nazareth. Adepts have imprints of God's Aspects on their souls, but the Nazoreans can be thought of as experiencing a complete and fundamental change to their entire being. And all of that because of their religious affiliation. That kind of thing tends to dominate a person's life, so playing a Nazorean will require being honest and open about one's Xtrian beliefs. Nazoreans & Ghouling: Ghouling, or running a story centered around a troup of Supernaturals, is a staple of Urban Fantasy stories. Nazoreans are perfect for using in Urban Fantasy stories alongside other Supernaturals because they provide people with a legitimate Supernatural who is from heaven but is also a part of the paranormal side of the world. Having a Nazorean interact with other 'monsters' is a great way to explore what exactly it means to be a Nazorean. Affiliates: -Church of the Resurection -La Quatro Leon -Thundering Legion